Comic-Con: The Post-Mortem

And so, as the sun sinks slowly into the Weird Western Tales back issue bin, we bid a fond farewell to another Comic-Con.

Last week, the geeks descended on San Diego like a forgotten plague of Egypt ("And lo, there shall come long lines of sweaty chunky dudes whose attitude toward deodorizing balms could best be described as ambivalent").

They came, they saw, they whinged about the influx of Twilight fans screaming over Robert Pattinson. (Which development prompted geek-adjacent comedian Paul F. Tompkins to sagely opine, via Twitter: "Listen, nerds: you are living a graphic novel called GLASS HOUSES.")

And somewhere between all the movie trailers and drinking and television pilots and drinking and video game announcements and drinking, they talked about what's new and noteworthy in comic books.

After the jump: A small sample of the comics news from Comic-Con, and why you should care.

The News:Marvel Comics has acquired the rights to Marvelman.

Why You, Non-Comics-Geek, Should Care:Details are still hazy, but the bottom line is that a character who's been the subject of pitched legal battles for decades will once again see the light of day. Whether or not those comics might include Alan Moore's much discussed but little-seen '80s deconstruction of the character — again, details hazy; ask again later.

The News:Writer Neil Kleid's and artist Nicolas Cinquegrani's The Big Kahn is due out at the end of the month.

Why You, Non-Comics-Geek, Should Care:Smart people who've seen the book — about a rabbi's family that discovers, upon his death, that he wasn't Jewish — are talking it up like crazy. Here's a preview, from Publishers Weekly.

The News:David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp is a great book, you guys, seriously.

Why You, Non-Comics-Geek, Should Care:Because David Mazzuchelli's Asterios Polyp is a great book, you guys, seriously. The Los Angeles Times thinks so. The Village Voice thinks so. The New York Times thinks so — at least I'm pretty sure it does:

The book is a satirical comedy of remarriage, a treatise on aesthetics and design and ontology, a late-life Kunstlerroman, a Novel of Ideas with two capital letters, and just about the most schematic work of fiction this side of that other big book that constantly alludes to the "Odyssey."

So, uh, yeah.

The News:Comics are coming to your cell phone in a big way. Lots of providers, lots of apps, a wider selection of titles.

Monkey See is all about pop culture, aspiring to be both a friend to the geek and a translator for the confused. It's hosted by Linda Holmes, who can be reached via Twitter or our much more formal contact form.